A photograph of members of the Wellington Emergency Management Office walking down Lichfield Street towards the intersection of Madras Street. Buildings on either side of the street have been damaged by the earthquake. Plastic fences have been places around piles of rubble on the street as cordons.
A photograph of members of the Wellington Emergency Management Office Emergency Response Team examining the path between two houses in Christchurch. The path is covered in rubble from the collapsed house to the right. A dog is walking through the rubble.
A photograph of members of the Wellington Emergency Management Office Emergency Response Team examining the path between two houses in Christchurch. The path is covered in rubble from the collapsed house to the right. A dog is standing on top of the fence.
A photograph of emergency management personnel walking in a line down Lichfield Street towards the intersection of Madras Street . The members in white hazmat suits are holding their hands over their heads while members of the New Zealand Army take the lead and follow from behind. Rubble from several earthquake-damaged buildings has scattered across the street to the right. Plastic fencing has been placed along the left side of the road as a cordon. In the background there are several earthquake-damaged buildings along Lichfield Street.
A photograph of members of the Wellington Emergency Management Office Emergency Response Team walking down Lichfield Street towards the intersection of Madras Street. There is rubble from several earthquake-damaged buildings on both sides of the road. Plastic fences and road cones have been placed on the street as cordons.
A photograph of a Wellington Emergency Management Office Emergency Response Team member talking to a member of the Professional Building Services on Gloucester Street. In the background is the Press House building with many cracks in the façade. Bits of bricks and other debris are scattered across the footpath. Some of the windows above the facade have broken. USAR codes have been spray-painted on one of the bottom-storey windows.
A photograph of a member of the Wellington Emergency Management Office Emergency Response Team standing in front of the earthquake-damaged Avonmore House on Hereford Street. Sections of the walls have crumbled, spilling bricks and masonry onto the footpath and street below. Many of the windows have warped, breaking the glass. USAR codes have been spray-painted on one of the columns. A red sticker taped to the door indicates that the building is unsafe to enter.
A photograph of a member of the Wellington Emergency Management Office Emergency Response Team standing in front of the earthquake-damaged Avonmore House on Hereford Street. Sections of the walls have crumbled, spilling bricks and masonry onto the footpath and street below. Many of the windows have also warped, breaking the glass. USAR codes have been spray-painted on one of the columns. A red sticker taped to the door indicates that the building is unsafe to enter.
A video of a presentation by Thomas Petschner during the Resilience and Response Stream of the 2016 People in Disasters Conference. The presentation is titled, "Medical Clowning in Disaster Zones".The abstract for this presentation reads as follows: To be in a crisis caused by different kinds of natural disasters (as well as a man made incidents), dealing with ongoing increase of problems and frequent confrontation with very bad news isn't something that many people can easily cope with. This applies obviously to affected people but also to the members of SAR teams, doctors in the field and the experienced humanitarians too. The appropriate use of humour in crisis situations and dis-functional environments is a great tool to make those difficult moments more bearable for everyone. It helps injured and traumatised people cope with what they're facing, and can help them to recover more quickly too. At the same time humorous thinking can help to solve some of the complex problems emergency responders face. This is in addition to emergency and medical only reactions - allowing for a more holistic human perspective, which can provide a positive lasting effect. The ability to laugh is hardwired into our systems bringing a huge variety of physical, mental and social benefits. Even a simple smile can cultivate optimism and hope, while laughter can boost a hormone cocktail - which helps to cope with pain, enhance the immune system, reduce stress, re-focus, connect and unite people during difficult times. Humour as an element of psychological response in crisis situations is increasingly understood in a much wider sense: as the human capacity to plan and achieve desired outcomes with less stress, thus resulting in more 'predictable' work in unpredictable situations. So, if we approach certain problems in the same way Medical Clowns do, we may find a more positive solution. Everyone knows that laughter is an essential component of a healthy, happy life. The delivery of 'permission to laugh' into disaster zones makes a big difference to the quality of life for everyone, even if it's for a very short, but important period of time. And it's crucial to get it right as there is no second chance for the first response.